This application claims the priority of German Application No. 196 39 673.5, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a display arranged in a motor vehicle.
In the case of currently constructed vehicles, a mirror arranged in a sun visor is generally used as a so-called make-up mirror.
Because of the use of electrochromic glass for reducing the sun radiation into the passenger compartment of a vehicle, a sun visor is no longer required. This also results in the elimination of the make-up mirror unless a special holder is provided for it.
Motor vehicles are known (German Patent documents DE 32 00 294 A1, DE 71 02 936 U1, DE 1246443 B, International Patent Document WO 96/21581 A 1, Japanese Patent Document JP 6-262981 A) in which a display is arranged in the area of the windshield. The situation behind the vehicle is fed into the display as an image which is videod by an external camera arranged on the rearward structure of the vehicle.
In addition, a motor vehicle is known (German Patent document DE 42 38 275 A1) in the case of which a camera is arranged in the area of the rearview mirror. The camera, for preventing criminal offenses, photographs a person entering the vehicle.
Furthermore, videophones are known, for example, from Telekom or AT&T, in the case of which a swivellable display with an integrated camera is arranged in the dialing unit. This display shows the image of an object which is photographed (videod) by a camera on the dialing unit of the speaking partner. In addition, the display may be switched to an intrinsic image control or an image-in-image (picture-in-picture) function.
It is an object of the invention to provide a so-called make-up mirror in a vehicle even when the sun visor with the known make-up mirror is eliminated.
This object is achieved by a display which is arranged in a motor vehicle and in which a camera is integrated such that, for use as a mirror replacement, an object photographed by the camera and situated in front of the display is shown on the display as a mirror image. Advantageous developments and further developments of the invention are described herein.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.